In the Arms of My Enemy
by 33rdBlackbird
Summary: Years after the events of Breaking Dawn the Volturri unleash a plot which threatens to destroy the Cullen family once and for all. In a time when bonds are broken and promises left unfulfilled, a single misstep will only lead to death.


Volterra, Italy

"I have been a loyal member of this coven for centuries now. I have done everything you have ever asked of me without hesitation and without complaint. I have led your Guard in countless victories." I projected my voice unnecessarily and listened to it echo against the vaulted ceiling. "I deserve this and you know it."

Never before had a member of the Guard raised their voice to the Masters before. My intent was to shock them into listening to me; my fear was that they would destroy me for my impudence, like a dog that doesn't know its place.

My fellow Guard members fanned out around the circular room in a not so subtle attempt at surrounding me. Even though I had led the Guard alongside my sister for centuries they would not hesitate to attack me if given such an order. I couldn't really hold it against them seeing as I had trained them to never hesitate following an order. However, they knew me well enough to know I wouldn't go down without a fight; a fight that would leave their numbers depleted for decades. No one wanted this to come to blows but no one would back down from it either. I was playing a dangerous game and the tension in the room was palpable. I waited patiently and resolutely to see if my boldness would be rewarded or punished.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jane's childlike eyes widen in shock and concern. She knew the terrible gamble I was taking. Instead of acknowledging her warning I stood my ground and looked Aro dead in the eye. I could see the wheels and cogs in his brilliant mind turning and clicking away.

Marcus rose from his throne and took a menacing step towards me. "How dare you presume to teach _us_ what is deserved and what isn't. Felix!" At his beckoning Felix took a hesitant step forward. He knew he was no match for my abilities but he certainly wasn't going to disobey a direct order either.

Before Felix could take another step Aro raised his hand in a gesture to halt. I could see the relief wash over Felix' face at having been granted a pardon from the suicide mission just thrust upon him. I ignored him and instead continued to stare Aro down with as much confidence as I could muster.

"Leave us." He stated with thinly veiled threat. The Guard and courtiers filed out of the room in heavy silence. Jane sent me a look lined with anger and fear. The tone in Aro's voice did not bode well for my chances of surviving this day but if I did I would owe one hell of an explanation to my very upset sister.

The room emptied and only the three brothers and Aro's personal guard, Renata, remained. He whispered something into her ear and she disappeared into a door hidden behind a tapestry. It seemed as if he was waiting for something. Was he expecting me to explain myself further? I decided it was best to allow him to make the first move so I stayed quiet and simply waited as well.

Suddenly my nostrils were accosted with one of the vilest stenches I had ever encountered. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the hidden door and a moment later Renata slipped back into the room. The stench tripled in intensity as a small woman stepped from behind the tapestry. She stood in fearful silence next to Renata and kept her eyes on the ground.

My attention was pulled away from this strange human as Aro began to speak. In his signature style of false sincerity he spread his arms wide in a sign of peace and benevolence. "Alec my child," He walked towards me and placed a hand on my shoulder in what was meant to be a sign of fatherly approval and stated, "You are right of course."

Marcus was not pleased and shouted, "Aro, we cannot let this insolence go unpunished and we certainly cannot reward it!"

"My dear brother," he turned to address Marcus, "Alec is no ordinary member of our Guard. He is a jewel in the Volturi crown. We must consider his request carefully."

As usual Marcus relented to Aro's will and sat down in frustrated defeat while Caius looked as bored as ever. I glanced back towards Aro and caught a hint of mischief in his eyes. I was not surprised in the least. Of course my actions would come with a cost. The Volturi never did anything out of kindness. There was always a price to be paid or a plot within a plot waiting to be hatched.

Aro took a casual stroll around the room. After hundreds of years of serving this man I knew his idiosyncrasies like I knew my own. I knew full well he had already made up his mind and was simply drawing it out for dramatic affect. I wanted to scream at him to just get on with it but played along as usual. After all there's really no cause to tempt fate twice in one day.

"Alec, you must know that you took a terrible risk today. No one has ever spoken to us in such a manner and lived. No one makes demands of us you must understand this."

I nodded with downturned eyes and waited for him to continue. This did not bode well.

"However, I do admire your tenacity and boldness." He took another turn about the room and settled back into his throne. He was silent for several moments all the while stroking his chin in thoughtful meditation.

"We will grant your request Alec."

A flood of relief and joy washed over me. Finally, after hundreds of years my loneliness would soon be at an end. It felt as if all the years of bloody rule enforcement and endless slaughter had finally come to fruition. I had no illusions that Aro's consent had anything to do with my personal merits or a sudden onset of mercifulness. I knew there was a catch but I honestly didn't care. I wanted this with my entire being and had just proven that I was willing to sacrifice my standing in the Guard and even my own life for it. I would accept whatever caveats were placed on this reward with thankfulness and continued service to my Masters.

I knelt on one knee and bowed my head obediently, "My Lords your mercy and generosity leave me humbled and forever thankful."

Aro nodded in approval and continued, "You may choose whomever you wish of course. But before you are able to enjoy the benefits of your union you must execute the following orders."

Here was the catch I had been waiting for. We spent the next several hours discussing the intricacies of what was truly Aro's most inspired plot yet. The presence of the mysterious woman cowering next to Renata was explained and I could not help but laugh at the sheer genius of it. Aro had truly outdone himself and even Caius seemed mildly intrigued.

Although the plan included little risk to me physically it would undoubtedly be the most emotionally difficult task I had ever performed. I would have to subject my newborn to one of the harshest beginnings imaginable. I would be unable to assist her in the transition into her immortality and would have to sit by and watch Aro's plot unfold. My newborn would simply be a tool for the Volturi to use. But if everything went according to plan than I would eventually be reunited with my creation and would be able to rear her as I saw fit.

I was thoroughly grateful that Aro had given me no time limit. It meant I could take my time choosing the perfect human who would become my future mate. I would take years to travel the globe in search of her if need be. She would need to be clever, resourceful, and stunningly beautiful of course. But most importantly she needed to have an unparalleled will to live if she was going to survive this scheme.

I could see no flaws in Aro's plan but I still had a flickering doubt in the back of my mind. So many things could go wrong and whomever I chose to turn would be caught right in the middle of the firestorm. I pushed the voice of doubt back into silence and chose to have faith in my own cleverness and that of my Masters as well. The dog eaters had stood against us for too many years. They had undoubtedly foiled Aro's plans in the past but their luck couldn't hold out forever. And besides, Aro had ensured that the Cullen's would never see this coming.

Broadway, NYC

Rita's hysterical giggling and squealing would have been annoying under any other circumstance. The fact that her crazed joy was centered on a small newspaper clipping in her hand made my curiosity win out over my need for quiet.

"Stop screaming and just tell me what it says already." I tried to come off as annoyed but her happiness was truly infectious and I could feel the corners of my mouth turning up into a giveaway grin. The fact of the matter was that my career hung in the balance of what this clipping had to say.

Rita cleared her throat loudly and began, "Last nights opening performance of the recently revamped Romeo and Juliet left audiences with a renewed sense of love for this classic play. Hmmm...yada yada…" Rita stopped and scanned through the rest of the review. "Ah here it is, 'Lilianna Simon's interpretation of the beautifully tragic Juliet was one of the most inspired and refreshing renditions to date. Simon's superior skills as a character actress were demonstrated yet again as her performance brought new life to this beloved play."

Rita stared at me expectantly but I was truly speechless. I bowed my head and sent a silent thanks to whatever deity had seen fit to bless me with so much success. I embraced Rita and whisper my thanks for her enthusiastic support. She took that as her queue to leave and kissed me on the cheek saying, "I'll see you on stage."

I sat down at my dressing table and proceeded to try to get into character but the bubbling glee in my stomach would not be denied. I grabbed a nearby pillow and proceeded to scream into it with abandon. After having released the greater part of my elation I took a moment to look around my small dressing room. Bouquets and cards covered nearly every surface; all sent by admirers, friends, and well wishers. No matter how many auditions I nailed or shows I starred in I could not fully accept that it was real. Part of me still felt as if I were living in a dream and would someday wake to find myself back in the gutters of Detroit just struggling to survive. But every morning the only thing I woke up to were emails requesting my attendance to swanky dinner parties and voicemails from my agent with new scripts for me to read and interviews to give.

I truly felt as if I were living a charmed life and that something somewhere was watching out for me. Experience told me that it was too good to be true and that it wouldn't last; that this was just a cruel joke the cosmos was playing before the rug was pulled out from under me. Or maybe this was just karma's way of balancing itself out for the shitty childhood I had had. But as I stared at my reflection in the mirror I fought to push those thoughts aside and just embrace my good fortune. I took several cleansing breaths and tried to focus. I silently meditated as I began to apply my stage makeup. It was time for me shed my own personality and become Juliet. The battle between my natural pessimism and attempted optimism would have to wait until after the show.

Denali, Alaska

It had been a year since the Volturi had invaded our home in Forks and attempted to pronounce their brand of justice on our family's so called crimes. Thanks to Bella's amazing gift, Alice's visions, and a small army of friends we had come out victorious. The Volturi had skulked away in defeat and it seemed that we would be allowed to live in peace once again.

It had been decided shortly thereafter that we needed to relocate back to Denali. Everyone agreed that we needed the quiet solitude of the Alaskan tundra after everything that had happened. Understandably, Edward and Bella wanted to enjoy every second of Renesmee's all too short childhood without the distraction of having to pretend to be going to college. The whole experience had cemented our family together and even Jacob had become an irreplaceable member. And so we had moved from quiet little Forks to the silent beauty of Alaska.

While we settled back into our old home I knew that we hadn't seen the last of the Volturi. News travels surprisingly fast within the vampire world and soon everyone would know that our little coven had stood up against the Volturi regime and won. They would never allow that kind of precedent to be set and their retribution would be harsh. They would need to make a statement that they were still in charge and would use our family as an example of what would happen if you incurred their wrath.

I kept these fears between myself, Carlisle, and Alice. There was no cause to interrupt the bliss that Edward, Bella, and their daughter had found. Alice assured me that she would know the minute they began to execute a plan against us. I trusted her ability but knew that it wasn't infallible. Carlisle, the eternal optimist, felt that my fears were unwarranted. He believed they had come to an equitable understanding with Aro and that they would simply leave us to our own "alternative lifestyle" as he called it. I hoped rather than believed him to be right.

And so our lives continued on. Emmett played his video games while Rosalie found excuses to boss him around. Carlisle focused on his medical research while Esme took correspondence courses in Art History. Bella and Edward soaked up the walking ray of sunshine that was the newest member of our family. Renesmee enjoyed being the precocious little child she was and in turn soaked up the endless amount of attention the family lavished on her. Even I, who had never been around children before, found myself wrapped around her little finger and spent countless hours playing horsy to her cowgirl.

Alice, well she was Alice. She spent her days playing Bella Barbie, internet shopping for her niece, and studying fashion magazines as if they were the bible. I on the other hand spent much of my time either reading the latest Civil War history or playing guitar. Contrary to popular belief Edward isn't the only musically inclined member of the family.

A beautiful sunset painted itself before me as I sat on the back porch of the house. As I strummed an old blues riff on my guitar I tried to push away the doom and gloom that had consumed my thoughts of late. I tried to replace it with the peace that pervaded this land and our home but a sudden shift in the moods of those inside the house drew attention.

Alice's singsong voice filled me on the reason to the sudden pulse of joy throughout the family, "Their home Jazzy!"

It seemed that Bella, Edward, and Nessy had finally gotten back from their trip to New York and everyone was excited to see their favorite munchkin and hear the news of the trip.

I followed the sounds of excited chatter through the house and towards the front entrance. I took a moment to bask in the glow of family affection and for a moment the darkness was banished from my mind. But a sense of longing, so strong it was almost painful, stood out amongst the swirling emotions of the rest of the family. I turned towards the source of the yearning only to find Jacobs massive frame twitching nervously. I rested a hand on his shoulder and pushed some calm into his mind, "Dude, she's home safe and sound. Try to relax OK?"

Jake flashed a half smile at me, took a couple of deep breaths and tried his best to relax. He was just so different than the rest of us that it was easy to forget that his bond with Renesmee was just as strong as a vampire's is to his mate. I'm sure his constant presence was part of Edward and Bella's reasoning for taking a vacation. He was a sweet kid to be sure but they also needed some one on one time with their daughter.

The sound of car doors slamming followed by the distinctive pitter patter of a child's feet pulled me from my reverie. An exuberant Nessy burst through the front door and stood before us in all her precocious glory. She eyed each of us with that mischievous little grin of hers as if decided whose arms she should jump into first. But after spotting Jacob the rest of us were forgotten as she raced into his waiting arms. The tinkling bells of her laughter filled the house as she planting dozens of tiny kisses all over his face. Jake started tickling her mercilessly until they were both out of breath from laughing.

She slid down from his hug and proceeded to greet the rest of us with kisses and cuddles while Bella and Edward pulled the luggage into the house. The rest of the evening was spent listening to the three of them, though mostly Nessy, regale us with the details of their trip to NYC.

The conversation settled into a lull when Nessy suddenly blurted out, "Daddy has a crush!" This revelation was met with an audible groan from Edward and a stifled laugh from Bella.

The temptation was too much for Emmet to resist, "What's this Eddie boy are the newlywed years already over? Already planting your crops in the neighbor's fields eh? Dipping your…"

A sharp slap to the head from Rose stopped Emmet from launching into a long list of euphemisms for adultery.

Through forced seriousness Bella addressed Nessy, "We talked about this didn't we Sweetie. Mommy was only teasing Daddy remember?"

Nessy pouted her bottom lip and crossed her arms in a huff.

"This is just too juicy to let go of! You've gotta explain Bella." Alice pushed in pixyish glee.

By this time Bella was barely containing giggles at Edwards's expense when he finally spoke up in an overdramatic huff, "This is just ridiculous and since my wife can't seem to give a decent explanation without choking on her laughter it falls to me to clear up this little fallacy."

I could tell by his emotions that he was more embarrassed than annoyed and so I listened with rapt attention. After all, it wasn't everyday that Edward's perfect image was tarnished.

"While in New York we came across a unique human who happened to be female. That's the sum of it." He announced with finality.

Bella finally had enough control over snickering to fill us in and did so as if she was dishing out the latest and greatest gossip.

"We went to Broadway's new release of Romeo and Juliet. We wanted Renesmee to experience it since it's one of our favorite stories. Anyways, the actress who played Juliet was superb and I noticed that Edward couldn't take his eyes off her."

The whole family was completely enraptured by Bella's revelation while Edward simply rolled his eyes in minor annoyance. She continued, "I've never seen him react to human like this before, well besides myself I suppose. It turns out that she just had a fascinating mind I guess."

Now that the teasing had stopped, Edward relaxed and began to explain further. His annoyance been replaced with a sort of awe-like amazement.

"I've never encountered a human this young with the kind of mental discipline she displayed. I met a Buddhist monk once who had that kind of control but he was a master of martial arts and also 76 years old."

Carlisle, always the inquisitive clinician spoke up, "You say this was a young actress?"

"Yes. She couldn't have been over 25. Her thoughts stood out from the rest because they were so singularly focused but it wasn't till she was off stage that I really became engrossed in listening to her mind. Her entire thought process was different when she was on stage than when she was off."

Rosalie interjected, "Yeah but isn't that was acting is about? That doesn't sound all that special."

"Your right of course but this girl was different. When she was on stage she _was_ Juliet. She was so completely consumed by the character that there was no hint of her true self while she was acting. It was as if she could compartmentalize her mind in a way I've never seen before. Most humans generally think the same way so it was refreshing and interesting to encounter someone who was so extraordinarily different."

"She was really pretty too!" Renesmee blurted out. This sent the family into another round of laughter and good natured jibes at Edwards's expense.

It was good to have them home. I tried to let the love around me dispel the dread that had encamped itself within my heart. But even in all of this family bliss my fears just couldn't be quelled. Something was coming for us; something that would change us forever.

New York City

She was talented, sinuously graceful, refined, delicate but strong, and hauntingly beautiful. She was who I had been searching for and she was going to be mine. I stared in awe as she delivered her lines with such depth that even a heart as long dead as mine was stirred.

Medium height, lethal curves, fair skin, and big green eyes; she was as close to my ideal as a mere human could get. There was something iconic about this human; a mix between Snow White and Marilyn Monroe. I was completely besotted.

It had been nearly a year since I begun searching for my future mate. France, England, Russia, Argentina, and a slew of other countries had all turned up nothing. There wasn't much strategy behind the hunt because I was sure that fate would guide me right to her. But the longer I searched the more frustrated I got.

Traveling to New York had been a mere whim or so I thought. But it seemed that fate had finally intervened as I was I was walking down the streets of NYC. A poster bearing the likeness of an angel caught my attention. I may have well been struck by lightning. After I recovered from my initial shock I immediately returned to my hotel room and pulled out my laptop. After I had purchased front row tickets for the show I began an in-depth investigation into her personal history. Everything I found confirmed she was the one I had been looking for.


End file.
